by Delia Ephron
narrated by Talia Balsam, Katie Finneran, Darren Goldstein, John Slattery
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Just released: July 12, 2016
Publisher: Blue Rider Press
Genre: Italy, Travel, Women's Fiction
Hardback: 304 pages
Rating: 4
First sentence(s):
I have a snapshot of me standing on Finn's shoulders when I was twenty-nine, a trick we'd perfected.
An electrifying novel about marriage and deceit from bestselling author Delia Ephron that follows two couples on vacation in Siracusa, a town on the coast of Sicily, where the secrets they have hidden from one another are exposed and relationships are unraveled.
New Yorkers Michael, a famous writer, and Lizzie, a journalist, travel to Italy with their friends from Maine—Finn; his wife, Taylor; and their daughter, Snow. “From the beginning,” says Taylor, “it was a conspiracy for Lizzie and Finn to be together.” Told Rashomon-style in alternating points of view, the characters expose and stumble upon lies and infidelities past and present. Snow, ten years old and precociously drawn into a far more adult drama, becomes the catalyst for catastrophe as the novel explores collusion and betrayal in marriage.
With her inimitable psychological astuteness and uncanny understanding of the human heart, Ephron delivers a powerful meditation on marriage, friendship, and the meaning of travel. Set on the sun-drenched coast of the Ionian Sea, Siracusa unfolds with the pacing of a psychological thriller and delivers an unexpected final act that none will see coming.
My two-bits:
Good one for arm-chair traveling as a small town in Sicily is captured via a tourist viewpoint.
Although unlikable characters and their unsavory deeds are the focus of this story. The drama creates a kind of fascination for how things progress and meet its inevitable end.
The narration with four people makes the story come alive moreso. Loved hearing John Slattery ;-)
* part of Audiobook Challenge
